173-224-015Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to establish a fee system for state waste discharge and NPDES permits issued by the department pursuant to RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, or 90.48.260. RCW 90.48.465 authorizes the department to base fees on factors related to the complexity of permit issuance and compliance and to charge fees to fully recover, but not exceed the costs of the permit program based on expenses incurred in the issuance and comprehensive administration of state waste discharge and NPDES permits. Fee amounts contained in this chapter represent the department's true estimate of fee eligible permit program costs and reflect the department's commitment to fully recover all eligible expenses. The department shall continue to examine the feasibility of adopting, when applicable, alternative permit fee systems. Any alternative fee system, such as variable permit fees, shall ensure continued full recovery of eligible program costs and may be based on pollutant loading and toxicity and may be designed to encourage recycling and reduction of the quantity of pollutants.

173-224-020Applicability. This chapter applies to all persons holding or applying for a state waste discharge or NPDES permit issued by the department pursuant to RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, 90.48.200 or 90.48.260, including persons holding permits that remain in effect under WAC 173-216-040, 173-220-180(5), or 173-226-050. This chapter does not apply when a wastewater discharge permit is written for a state conducted remedial action under the Model Toxics Control Act. That is, ecology will not charge itself for wastewater discharge permits written for sites where the agency is conducting a cleanup.

For those concentrated animal feeding operations not listed on the above table, the department will use 1,000 pounds of live animal weight and the weight of the type of animal in determining the number of animal units.

"Annual permit fee" means the fee charged by the department for annual expenses associated with activities specified in RCW 90.48.465. This annual fee is based on the state's fiscal year (July 1 - June 30).

"bbls/d" means barrels per day of feedstock for petroleum refineries.

"bins/yr" means total standard bins used during the last complete calendar year by a facility in the crop preparing industry. The bins measure approximately 47.5 inches x 47.4 inches x 29.5 inches and hold approximately 870 pounds of fruit.

"Combined food processing waste treatment facility" means a facility that treats wastewater from more than one separately permitted food processor and receives no domestic wastewater or waste from industrial sources other than food processing.

"Combined industrial waste treatment" means a facility which treats wastewater from more than one industry in any of the following categories: Inorganic chemicals, metal finishing, ore concentration, organic chemicals, or photofinishers.

"Combined sewer overflow (CSO)" means the event during which excess combined sewage flow caused by inflow is discharged from a combined sewer, rather than conveyed to the sewage treatment plant because either the capacity of the treatment plant or the combined sewer is exceeded.

"Contaminants of concern" means a chemical for which an effluent limit is established (this does not include pH, flow, temperature, or other "nonchemical parameters"). Petroleum constituents will be considered as one contaminant of concern even if more than one effluent limit is established (e.g., Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons and BTEX).

"Crane" means a machine used for the hoisting and lifting of ship hulls.

"Crop preparing" means the preparation of fruit for wholesale or retail sale by washing and/or other processes in which the skin of the fruit is not broken and in which the interior part of the fruit does not come in direct contact with the wastewater.

"cu. yds/yr" means the total production from an aggregate production facility in cubic yards during the most recent completed calendar year.

"Department" means the department of ecology.

"Director" means the director of the department of ecology.

"Disturbed acres" means the total area which will be disturbed during all phases of the construction project or common plan of development or sale. This includes all clearing, grading, and excavating, and any other activity which disturbs the surface of the land.

"Domestic wastewater" means water carrying human wastes, including kitchen, bath, and laundry wastes from residences, buildings, industrial establishments or other places, together with any ground water infiltration or surface waters that may be present.

"Domestic wastewater facility" means all structures, equipment, or processes required to collect, carry away, treat, reclaim or dispose of domestic wastewater together with such industrial waste as may be present.

"Fin fish rearing and hatching" means the raising of fin fish for fisheries enhancement or sale, by means of hatcheries, net pens, or other confined fish facilities.

"Flavor extraction" means the recovery of flavors or essential oils from organic products by steam distillation.

"Food processing" means the preparation of food for human or animal consumption or the preparation of animal byproducts, excluding crop preparing. This category includes, but is not limited to, fruit and vegetable processing, meat and poultry products processing, dairy products processing, beer production, rendering and animal feed production. Food processing wastewater treatment plants that treat wastes from only one separately permitted food processor must be treated as one facility for billing purposes.

"Gross revenue for business" means the gross income from Washington business activities as reported to the Washington state department of revenue.

"Hazardous waste clean up sites" means any facility where there has been confirmation of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance that requires remedial action other than RCRA corrective action sites.

"Industrial facility" means any facility not included in the definition of municipal/domestic facility.

"Industrial gross revenue" means the annual amount of the sales of goods and services produced using the processes regulated by the wastewater discharge permit.

"Industrial storm water" means an operation required to be covered under ecology's NPDES and state waste discharge baseline general permit for storm water discharges associated with industrial activities or modifications to that permit or having an individual wastewater permit for storm water only.

"MGD" means permitted flow expressed in million gallons per day.

"Manufacturing" means the making of goods and articles by hand or especially, by machinery into a manufactured product.

"Median household income" means the most recent available census data, updated yearly based on inflation rates as measured by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and published as the Consumer Price Index.

"Municipal/domestic facility" means a publicly owned facility treating domestic wastewater together with any industrial wastes that may be present, or a privately owned facility treating solely domestic wastewater.

Included in these user charges are user charges and fees based on wastewater constituents' strengths and characteristics including high-strength surcharges and charges based on biochemical oxygen demand, suspended solids, oil and grease, toxicants, heavy metals, and flow, etc.

Municipal gross revenue includes all amounts received from other municipalities for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal.

Gross revenue excludes:

Amounts derived by municipalities directly from taxes levied for the support or maintenance of sewer services.

Late charges, penalties for nontimely payment by customers, interest on late payments, and all other penalties and fines.

Permit fees and compliance monitoring fees for wastewater discharge permits issued by municipalities with local pretreatment programs. Permit fees which are charged to cover the cost of providing sewer service are not excluded from municipal gross revenue.

Receipts by a municipality of special assessments or installments thereof and interests and penalties thereon, and charges in lieu of assessments.

Connection charges.

Revenues from sales of by-products such as sludge, processed wastewater, etc.

"Municipality" means a city, town, county, district, association, or other public body created by or in accordance with state law and that has jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or other wastes, or an Indian tribe or an authorized Indian tribal organization, or a designated and approved management agency under 33 U.S.C. Sec. 1288. State government agencies are not included in this definition.

"Noncontact cooling water with additives" means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw materials, intermediate product, waste product or finished product, but which may contain chemicals or additives added by the permittee to control corrosion or fouling of the cooling system.

"Noncontact cooling water without additives" means water used for cooling that does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product or finished product, and which does not contain chemicals added by the permittee. The noncontact cooling water fee without additives category applies to those facilities which discharge only noncontact cooling water and which have no other wastewater discharges required to be permitted under RCW 90.48.160, 90.48.162, and 90.48.260.

"Nonferrous metals forming" means the manufacturing of semifinished products from pure metal or metal alloys other than iron or steel or of metals not otherwise classified in WAC 173-224-040(2).

"Nonoperating aggregate site" means a location where previous mining or processing has occurred; that has not been fully reclaimed; that has no current mining or processing, and that may include stockpiles of raw materials or finished products. The permittee may add or withdraw raw materials or finished products from the stockpiles for transportation offsite for processing, use, or sale and still be considered a nonoperating site. This definition can be found in ecology's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System and State Waste Discharge Permit for Process Water, Storm Water, and Mine Dewatering Water Discharges Associated with Sand and Gravel Operations, Rock Quarries and Similar Mining Facilities including Stockpiles of Mined Materials, Concrete Batch Operations and Asphalt Batch Operations.

"NPDES permit" means a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by the department under Section 402 of the federal Clean Water Act and RCW 90.48.260.

"Person" means any political subdivision, government agency, municipality, industry, public or private corporation, partnership, association, firm, individual, or any other entity whatever.

"Portable facility" means a facility that is designed for mobility and is moved from site to site for short term operations. A portable facility applies only to an asphalt batch plant, portable concrete batch plant and portable rock crusher.

"RCRA" means Resource Conservation Recovery Act clean up sites required to have a wastewater discharge permit resulting from a corrective action under relevant federal authorities or under chapters 70.105 and 70.105D RCW including chapters 173-303 and 173-340 WAC, and are not subject to cost recovery.

"Residential equivalent" means a single-family residence or a unit of sewer service that yields an amount of gross revenue equal to the annual user charge for a single-family residence. In cases where the permit holder does not maintain data on gross revenue, user charges, and/or the number of single-family residences that it serves, "residential equivalent" means an influent flow of two hundred fifty gallons per day.

"Sewer service" means the activity of receiving sewage deposited into and carried off by a system of sewers, drains, and pipes to a common point, or points, for disposal or for transfer to treatment for disposal, and activities involving the interception, transfer, storage, treatment, and/or disposal of sewage, or any of these activities.

"Storm water" means an industrial operation or construction activity discharging storm water runoff as defined in 40 CFR 122.26 (b)(14) or facilities that are permitted as a significant contributor of pollutants as allowed in the federal Clean Water Act at Section 402 (p)(2)(E).

"Tons/yr." means the total production from an asphalt production facility in tons during the most recent completed calendar year.

"Vegetable/bulb washing" means the washing, packing, and shipping of fresh vegetables and bulbs when there is no cooking or cutting of the product before packing.

173-224-040Permit fee schedule. (1) Application fee. In addition to the annual fee, first time applicants (except those applying for coverage under a general permit) will pay a one time application fee of twenty-five percent of the annual permit fee, or $250.00, whichever is greater. An application fee will be assessed for RCRA sites regardless of whether a new permit is being issued or an existing permit for other than the discharge resulting from the RCRA corrective action, is being modified.

(a) Facilities other than those in the aggregate production, shipyard, or RCRA categories that operate within several fee categories or subcategories, shall be charged from that category or subcategory with the highest fee.

(b) The total annual permit fee for a water treatment plant that primarily serves residential customers may not exceed three dollars per residential equivalent. The number of residential equivalents is determined by dividing the facility's annual gross revenue in the previous calendar year by the annual user charge for a single family residence that uses nine hundred cubic feet of water per month.

(c) Crop preparation and aggregate production permit holders are required to submit information to the department certifying annual production (calendar year) or unit processes. When required, the department will send the information form to the permit holder. The permit holder shall complete and return the information form to the department by the required due date. Failure to provide this information will result in a fee determination based on the highest subcategory the facility has received permit coverage in.

(i) Information submitted shall bear a certification of correctness and be signed:

(A) In the case of a corporation, by an authorized corporate officer;

(B) In the case of a limited partnership, by an authorized general partner;

(C) In the case of a general partnership, by an authorized partner; or

(D) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor.

(ii) The department may verify information submitted and, if it determines that false or inaccurate statements have been made, it may, in addition to taking other actions provided by law, revise both current and previously granted fee determinations.

(d) Fees for crop preparers discharging only noncontact cooling water without additives shall pay the lesser of the applicable fee in the crop preparing or noncontact cooling water without additives categories.

(e) Where no clear industrial facility category exists for placement of a permit holder, the department may elect to place the permit holder in a category with dischargers or permit holders that contain or use similar properties or processes and/or a category which contains similar permitting complexities to the department.

(f) Hazardous waste clean up sites and EPA authorized RCRA corrective action sites with whom the department has begun cost recovery through chapter 70.105D RCW shall not pay a permit fee under chapter 173-224 WAC until such time as the cost recovery under chapter 70.105D RCW ceases.

(g) Any permit holder, with the exception of nonoperating aggregate operations or a permitted portable facility, who has not been in continuous operation within a consecutive eighteen-month period or who commits to not being in operation for a consecutive eighteen-month period or longer can have their permit fee reduced to twenty-five percent of the fee that they would be otherwise assessed. This nonoperating mode must be verified by the appropriate ecology staff. Once operations resume, the permit fee will be returned to the full amount.

Facilities who commit to the minimum eighteen-month nonoperating mode but go back into operation during the same eighteen-month period will be assessed permit fees as if they were active during the entire period.

(h) Facilities with subcategories based on gallons per day (gpd) shall have their annual permit fee determined by using the maximum daily flow or maximum monthly average permitted flow in gallons per day as specified in the waste discharge permit, whichever is greater.

(i) RCRA corrective action sites requiring a waste discharge permit will be assessed a separate permit fee regardless of whether the discharge is authorized by a separate permit or by a modification to an existing permit for a discharge other than that resulting from the corrective action.

(3) MUNICIPAL/DOMESTIC FACILITIES

(a) The annual permit fee for a permit held by a municipality for a domestic wastewater facility issued under RCW 90.48.162 or 90.48.260 is determined as follows:

Residential Equivalents (RE) FY 2007

Annual

Permit Fee FY 2008

Annual

Permit Fee and

Beyond < 250,000 $1.80 $1.80 > 250,000 1.12 1.18

(b) The annual permit fee under RCW 90.48.162 or 90.48.260 that is held by a municipality which:

(i) Holds more than one permit for domestic wastewater facilities; and

(ii) Treats each domestic wastewater facility as a separate accounting entity, is determined as in (a) of this subsection.

A separate accounting entity is one that maintains separate funds or accounts for each domestic wastewater facility. Revenues are received from the users to pay for the costs of operating that facility.

(c) The sum of the annual permit fees for permits held by a municipality that:

(i) Holds more than one permit for domestic wastewater facilities issued under RCW 90.48.162 or 90.48.260; and

(ii) Does not treat each domestic wastewater facility as a separate accounting entity, as described in (b) of this subsection, is determined as in (a) of this subsection.

(d) The permit fee for a privately owned domestic wastewater facility that primarily serves residential customers is determined as in (a) of this subsection. Residential customers are those whose lot, parcel or real estate, or building is primarily used for domestic dwelling purposes.

(e) The annual permit fee for privately owned domestic wastewater facilities must be determined by using the maximum daily flow or maximum monthly average permitted flow in million gallons per day, whichever is greater, as specified in the waste discharge permit. Permit fees for privately owned domestic wastewater facilities that do not serve primarily residential customers and for state-owned domestic wastewater facilities are the following:

(f) The number of residential equivalents is calculated in the following manner:

(i) If the facility serves only single-family residences, the number of residential equivalents is the number of single-family residences that it served on January 1 of the previous calendar year.

(ii) If the facility serves both single-family residences and other classes of customers, the number of residential equivalents is calculated in the following manner:

(A) Calculation of the number of residential equivalents that the facility serves in its own service area. Subtract from the previous calendar year's gross revenue:

(I) Any amounts received from other municipalities for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal; and

(II) Any user charges received from customers for whom the permit holder pays amounts to other municipalities for sewage treatment or disposal services. Divide the resulting figure by the annual user charge for a single-family residence.

(B) Calculation of the number of residential equivalents that the facility serves in other municipalities which pay amounts to the facility for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal:

(I) Divide any amounts received from other municipalities during the previous calendar year by the annual user charge for a single-family residence. In this case "annual user charge for a single-family residence" means the annual user charge that the facility charges other municipalities for sewage interception, treatment, collection, or disposal services for a single-family residence. If the facility charges different municipalities different single-family residential user fees, then the charge used in these calculations must be that which applies to the largest number of single-family residential customers. Alternatively, if the facility charges different municipalities different single-family residential user fees, the permit holder may divide the amount received from each municipality by the annual user charge that it charges that municipality for a single-family residence and sum the resulting figures.

(II) If the facility does not charge the other municipality on the basis of a fee per single-family residence, the number of residential equivalents in the other municipality is calculated by dividing its previous calendar year's gross revenue by its annual user fee for a single-family residence. If the other municipality does not maintain data on its gross revenue, user fees, and/or the number of single-family residences that it serves, the number of residential equivalents is calculated as in (f)(iv) of this subsection.

(III) If the other municipality serves only single-family residences, the number of residential equivalents may be calculated as in (f)(i) of this subsection.

The sum of the resulting figures is the number of residential equivalents that the facility serves in other municipalities.

(C) The number of residential equivalents is the sum of the number of residential equivalents calculated in (f)(ii)(A) and (B) of this subsection.

(iii) The annual user fee for a single-family residence is calculated by either of the following methods, at the choice of the permit holder:

(A) The annual user fee for a single-family residence using nine hundred cubic feet of water per month. If users are billed monthly, this is calculated by multiplying by twelve the monthly user fee for a single-family residence using nine hundred cubic feet of water per month. If users are billed bimonthly, the annual user fee is calculated by multiplying by six the bimonthly user fee for a single-family residence using one thousand eight hundred cubic feet of water per two-month period. If the user fee for a single-family residence varies, depending on age, income, location, etc., then the fee used in these calculations must be that which applies to the largest number of single-family residential customers.

(B) The average annual user fee for a single-family residence. This average is calculated by dividing the previous calendar year's gross revenue from provision of sewer services to single-family residences by the number of single-family residences served on January 1 of the previous calendar year. If the user fee for a single-family residence varies, depending on age, income, location, etc., then the gross revenue and number of single-family residences used in making this calculation must be those for all the single-family residential customers.

In either case, (f)(iii)(A) or (B) of this subsection, the permit holder must provide the department with a copy of its complete sewer rate schedule for all classes of customers.

(iv) If a permit holder does not maintain data on its gross revenue, user fees, and/or the number of single-family residences that it serves, and therefore cannot use the methods described in (f)(i) or (ii) of this subsection to calculate the number of residential equivalents that it serves, then the number of residential equivalents that it serves is calculated by dividing the average daily influent flow to its facility for the previous calendar year by two hundred fifty gallons. This average is calculated by summing all the daily flow measurements taken during the previous calendar year and then dividing the resulting sum by the number of days on which flow was measured. Data for this calculation must be taken from the permit holder's discharge monitoring reports. Permit holders using this means of calculating the number of their residential equivalents must submit with their application a complete set of copies of their discharge monitoring reports for the previous calendar year.

(i) Municipalities holding permits for domestic wastewater facilities issued under RCW 90.48.162 and 90.48.260, and holders of permits for privately-owned domestic wastewater facilities that primarily serve residential customers must complete a form certifying the number of residential equivalents served by their domestic wastewater system. The form must be completed and returned to the department within thirty days after it is mailed to the permit holder by the department. Failure to return the form could result in permit termination.

(ii) The form shall bear a certification of correctness and be signed:

(A) In the case of a corporation, by an authorized corporate officer;

(B) In the case of a limited partnership, by an authorized partner;

(C) In the case of a general partnership, by an authorized partner;

(D) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor; or

(E) In the case of a municipal or other public facility, by either a ranking elected official or a principal executive officer.

(iii) The department may verify the information contained in the form and, if it determines that the permit holder has made false statements, may, in addition to taking other actions provided by law, revise both current and previously granted fee determinations.

To be eligible for less than the maximum permit fee, the permit holder must provide documentation to substantiate the gross revenue claims. Documentation shall be provided annually in a manner prescribed by the department. The documentation shall bear a certification of correctness and be signed:

(a) In the case of a corporation, by an authorized corporate officer;

(b) In the case of a limited partnership, by an authorized general partner;

(c) In the case of a general partnership, by an authorized partner; or

(d) In the case of a sole proprietorship, by the proprietor.

The department may verify the information contained in the submitted documentation and, if it determines that the permit holder has made false statements, may deny the adjustment, revoke previously granted fee adjustments, and/or take such other actions deemed appropriate or required under state or federal law.

(a) Except as provided for in (d) of this subsection, the municipal storm water permit annual fee for the entities listed below will be:

Name of Entity FY 2007

Annual Permit Fee FY 2008 Annual

Permit Fee and

Beyond King County $34,182.00 $36,059.00 Snohomish County 34,182.00 36,059.00 Pierce County 34,182.00 36,059.00 Tacoma, City of 34,182.00 36,059.00 Seattle, City of 34,182.00 36,059.00 Washington Department of Transportation 34,182.00 36,059.00 Clark County 34,182.00 36,059.00

(b) Municipal storm water general permit fees for cities and counties, except as otherwise provided for in (a), (c), and (d) of this subsection, will be determined in the following manner: For fiscal year 2007, ecology will charge $1.00 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit for those cities and counties whose median household income exceeds the state average. Cities and counties whose median household income is less than the state average will have their fee per housing unit reduced to $.50 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit. For fiscal year 2008, ecology will charge $1.05 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit for those cities and counties whose median household income exceeds the state average. Cities and counties whose median household income is less than the state average will have their fee per housing unit reduced to $.53 per housing unit inside the geographic area covered by the permit. Fees will not exceed $34,182.00 for fiscal year 2007 and $36,059.00 for fiscal year 2008 and beyond. The minimum annual fee will not be lower than $1,500.00 unless the permitted city or county has a median household income less than the state average. In this case, the city or county will pay a fee totaling $.50 per housing unit.

(c) Otherentities required to have permit coverage under a municipal storm water general permit will pay an annual fee beginning in fiscal year 2007. The annual fee shall be based on the entities' previous year's annual operating budget as follows: (continued)